Page 38 of Hidden Nature

Sloan angled her head at her sister. “Check you.”

“Damn right. Still, it’s nothing compared to the baked Brie Mom did. It looks like a little pumpkin.”

“I watched a video, and tried it last night. We’re going to do some candied nuts, and we already did the cranberry relish yesterday. Add some veg, some fruit, some sliced Gouda, crackers.”

“Fancy,” Sloan commented.

“I really wanted a little fancy this year.” Elsie gripped Sloan’s hand, then Drea’s. “Just a little special. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”

“I’ve got table duty. I’m good at the fancy.”

Now Sloan frowned. “I can be good at the fancy.”

“I’m better. You peel and chop.”

“You can start with carrots,” Elsie told her. “Roasted and glazed for the table, raw for the charcuterie. I need a mountain.”

So Sloan peeled a mountain of carrots, trimmed another mountain of green beans, sliced apples and pears to toss in lemon juice. As she started on the next mountain—potatoes—she had to admit, her sister’s table managed to hit both the fancy and family with her mother’s good china and wineglasses, rusty red napkins in copper rings, and a pair of squat pumpkin-colored candles in glass columns ready to light.

With the lower oven hard at work, the turkey roasting in the top, Drea kept busy cleaning up behind their mother.

She gathered up all the vegetable debris. “I’ll run all these out to the composter.”

“Thanks, baby.”

Sloan waited until her sister went outside. “I’m doing the charcuterie.”

“Oh, well—”

“I’ll make it fancy.”

“It’s just I have a lot of other things. Grapes—I want them put out on the vine. Dried fruit, some cute little gourds—just for decoration. And this sweet potato spread I made last night.”

“I’ll make it fancy,” Sloan repeated, determined. “Drea can quarter the potatoes for boiling. What am I using?”

“I got a new board for it.”

When Elsie brought it out, Sloan felt her confidence waver.

“It’s really big.”

“There are a lot of us, but—”

“You don’t think I can do it.” Sloan pointed a finger at her mother. “I’ll show you!”

“All right then.” Elsie plastered on a bright smile. “I’ll get you everything you need. I’m doing some little slices of baguette along with crackers.”

“Jeez, Mom, you went wild.”

When Drea came back in, she looked at the board and the variety her mother assembled.

“I’ll help with that.”

“No!” Eyes narrowed, Sloan held her arms over the board. “Mine!”

“Wow. Fine. Whatever.”

Sloan decided to approach it like a puzzle. She liked puzzles. She began to arrange, shifted and arranged again. Started over.

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